Will Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli play 2027 ODI World Cup? Gautam Gambhir responds

With India’s upcoming tour of Australia being the cricket team’s next assignment, it is set to bring back the energy with two veterans in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli making their return to competitive cricket. The two senior players will mark their return in the Indian colours after last playing in India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 title win.

The duo who retired from T20Is after India’s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in Barbados and put curtains to their elongated Test cricket career in May 2025, now remain active in the 50-over format and will return in the upcoming three-match ODI series, scheduled to be played from October 19 to 25 Down Under. While there has been a lot of talk around their future in Indian cricket, head coach Gautam Gambhir

was also inquired of the same during the post-match press conference.

They are quality players, and their experience will be invaluable: Gambhir on Ro-Ko’s future

Speaking at the post-match presser in Delhi, Gambhir urged everyone to stay in the present, rather than think too much of the tournament which is still 2.5 years far. "They are quality players, and their experience will be invaluable. With the 2027 World Cup still 2.5 years away, it's important to stay focused on the present,” he began.

“Kohli and Rohit are both exceptional players, and their return will be a big boost. Hopefully, they have a successful tour, and more importantly, the team comes out with a strong series performance in Australia," Gambhir further added. While Rohit will turn 40 by the time ODI World Cup commences, Virat Kohli will turn 38.

India's white-ball squads for Australia tour:

ODI squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.

T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.